Scary Sounds
by honor-tea
Summary: Ryan gets scared and calls Kelly in the middle of the night.


"_Okay, well the next time that you get scared, that you think a murderer is in your apartment in the middle of the night, and you call me to calm you down—"_

"_Okay. You know what—"_

"_You can just call somebody else because I'm not going to do it anymore, Ryan. I'm not."_

- The Office, "The Negotiation"

Ryan jolted awake. He wasn't sure what had woken him up until he heard a loud noise. He sat up a little straighter, clung a little closer to his sheets, and looked around. What on earth could that noise be? It was pitch black, making him unable to observe his surroundings, and causing him to feel a tiny bit afraid. He wasn't even sure what direction the noises were coming from.

*clang*

Ryan flinched. He was starting to get worried. Even hearing the noise a second time didn't give him any idea where it was coming from. Was it coming from the window? Or maybe his door? Was someone trying to break into his apartment? He hated mysterious noises in the dark. They left him so vulnerable; unable to see, unable to defend himself.

He took a deep breath, and slowly slipped out of the bed. The light switch was way too close to the door for his liking, but he knew that if he were able to turn the lights on, he wouldn't be so afraid.

The second he flipped the switch and the lights came on, another clang shook his ears and caused him to jump. There was no way that that could be a coincidence. Someone was in his apartment, and had reacted to him opening up the lights.

Looking around in a panic, he realized that there was nothing around him that he could use to defend himself. Backing away from the door slowly, he knew, he just knew that there was someone trying to break in. It was New York City, and his apartment wasn't located in the best neighborhood.

The noises just wouldn't stop.

And so he decided to do what he usually did in these types of situations. And he did it quickly so that he wouldn't give himself a chance to change his mind.

He called Kelly.

As the phone rang, the noises continued, causing him to hope even more that Kelly would just pick up already.

Suddenly, there was a click in the phone.

"Hello?…" said Kelly, in her sleepy voice. This made Ryan smile for a second. She always did sound so cute when she had just woken up, and it had been such a long time since he'd heard her voice like that.

"Kelly? Look, I'm sorry for waking you up in the middle of the night but I think someone is trying to break into my apartment" said Ryan quickly. He dropped his voice lower. "What should I do?"

"Ryan?" said Kelly, her voice starting to become a little high-pitched but still groggy. She was slowly starting to put the pieces together of what was happening after being woken up suddenly in the middle of the night. "Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?"

"I just told you." said Ryan with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "I think someone is here, and I really don't know-"

"No, I mean why are you calling _me_," said Kelly. "I am not your girlfriend anymore."

Ryan opened his mouth to say something but suddenly realized the implications of her words.

Another clang rang through his apartment, but this time he didn't jump.

He had forgotten that he and Kelly had broken up. In his panic, it had just felt natural to call her. Back when he lived in Scranton, he had done this a couple times. Each time he had genuinely believed that he was in danger, only to find that he wasn't after Kelly had calmed him down. She was really good at getting him to calm down. Her voice could be soothing at times and just knowing how much Kelly cared about him made him feel safe.

"Ryan?" came Kelly's voice after a few seconds of him not saying anything.

He didn't know what to say. He was embarrassed at his mistake, and couldn't think of anything to say that would allow him to keep his dignity. Plus, if he didn't play this right, Kelly would probably just jump to conclusions and think that he loved her or something when he clearly didn't. He had just made an honest mistake.

"I guess I just forgot," said Ryan with a defeated tone to his voice. 

Ryan could almost hear Kelly rolling her eyes at him. "Well, okay, I'm going to go back to sleep now." 

"Wait!" said Ryan quickly before she could hang up the phone. He wasn't sure what had made him say that but he needed to act fast in order to keep her on the phone. The noises continued and his empty apartment still felt scary to him. "Can you just stay on the line a little longer?" he said, knowing how pathetic he sounded. "Just until I know the intruder has left." 

Kelly gave a small sigh of annoyance. "Ryan, just call someone else to help you. You see, if I needed help during the middle of the night, I would call my boyfriend, Darryl."

Ryan knew that Kelly had added in the Darryl reference just to make him jealous. And as another scary noise hit his ears, he realized that it had worked. There was no one else, except for his mom, that he could technically call. In New York, he didn't have any close friends (or girlfriends but he had convinced himself he didn't want one). The closest person in his life was Troy, a drug dealer who always left him hanging whenever he needed his help. Every time he had had too much to drink, or had gotten sick from the drugs he had sold him, Troy would just disappear, leaving Ryan to fend for himself. 

"Kelly…" said Ryan. He knew it would be unfair for him to make her stay on the phone. Especially after the harsh way he had dumped her. But he had only done that because, at the time, he thought his life would get insanely better due to his new job. Now, he wasn't sure that was the case.

"You're right. I'll take care of it by myself. Sorry for waking you up," said Ryan, secretly hoping that Kelly would want to stay on the phone with him because she cared that much about him. 

"Okay, bye," said Kelly, as she hung up the phone.

The moment he heard the phone click, he felt an emptiness swell up inside him. There was no one there, no one to talk to him, no one to protect him from whatever he had to face next. In that moment, he realized that despite getting everything he ever wanted - a successful job, a glamorous party lifestyle, money - that he was completely alone.

The loud sounds continued to strike his apartment but this time, he didn't have a clue as to what he should do.

_A/N: Last night there was a snow storm and there was a lot of wind and I kept on hearing these noises that I would describe as a "clang" sound and I was a bit scared and that is where inspiration for this story came from. Also, I love Ryan/Kelly. They are just so adorable._


End file.
